The Five Banners
by Lance-378
Summary: A tale of vengeance. Lance, a thief, only want to give back to his ennemy what he gave him in the first place...pain. Suffering.
1. Default Chapter

**Prologue**

A figure was walking under the shadows of branches and leaves that were painted in flaming colors. Each steps made a small crunch on the dead leaves that rested silently on the track of the forest and under his boots. The air was slowly getting chilly as winter was slowly manifesting its coming, causing a faint mist to come out of the man's mouth on each exhale.

The said man was wearing a cloak, dusty blue in color. His hood was on, hiding the features of his face, wich he preferred to be hidden anyway…for personal reasons we will see later. Three scabbards were hanging after a belt at his waist. Two on his left, one on his right.

The ones on his left seemed rather old, grudged by time. One of them was slim, like if it was made especially for a certain type of sword. The guard emerging from it was flat and round, golden in color. The hilt was coal black.

The other, still on his left, was painted in a dark color…spots of dark crimson were seen all the long of the sheath. Its shape was larger than the slim one, and a bit longer also. The guard of this blade was curved to the interior, each ends having some sort of fangs. At the middle of it was crested a tiny emerald, maybe 1 inch in diameter. No less, no more. The hilt had nothing interesting to be described.

The unique blade hanging to the right of his waist was the most taken care of, if we based ourselves on the appearance. The sheath was highly decorated by small lines of gold and silver snaking all the long of it. The guard was carved in shapes of leaves, all the way up to the end of the hilt. In the middle of the carved forest was resting a small emerald, shaped in a diamond form. The blade seemed very light for its size, and rarely used by its wielder.

The cloaked man looked up to the track in front of him, trying to see if there was an end to it. No signs of end, or civilization could be seen yet. Some words then escaped his mouth. His voice was rather low, and seemed…pained. Even tortured, if we could say so.

"…Good…the less I'll see a town… the less I will go out of control again…"

The man sighed and stopped his long walk to take a short break. He looked around for a place to rest. His hidden eyes spotted an old oak not too far away from him. Its branches seemed strong enough to support his weight, wich was anyway not really much. He was pretty thin, a bit too much as some could say... He walked to the fortune "shelter" and started to climb in it, getting to a high branch. His left leg hung in the air, his right one resting on the branch.

The man finally lowered his hood and revealed firstly his hair. They were mid-long, falling over his forehead and a bit over his left eye. It was of a dark brown and seemed a bit uncared, dirty. The face hidden under the hair was a bit in the same style. It seemed old...a bit older than it should be in fact. Pain and sorrow could be seen in the traits of his face. His chin and cheeks were covered by a more or less shove beard, giving him a rogue aspect. The most striking thing on his face though, was his right eye. Plain white in color, empty of any pupil. Three scars were passing over it. One was larger than the two others, situated in the middle of the brand trio. His left eye was pretty normal, of a chestnut brown tint.

He looked between the many trees idly, almost lost in thought. He crossed his arms on his chest, leaning his head back against the old trunk. He looked to the clear sky between the dying branches, his eyes following the fluffy clouds or the leaves falling to the ground in a graceful dance. He sighed and closed his eyelids over his eyes. He took a deep and long breath, inhaling the fresh and humid autumn air.

A cool breeze then blowed, brushing the ground of the leaves covering it. The man looked down at the trail and the leaves letting lazily themselves being moved away. He envied them. He wanted to be like that...to go with the wind freely without any worry. But he couldn't, not anymore. Maybe in some near future he would be able to once again...but he highly doubted it.

He closed his eyes again and sighed deeply. He sat there, letting the wind ruffle his hair a bit, and listening to the music of leaves being blown away and the soft whistle of the wind.


	2. Blue and Black

**Chapter 1**

He reopened his eyes a little while later, only to take another look at the forest around him. He scanned the branches without any particular goal, removing some locks of hair from in front of his left eye. His hair was always falling over his left eye, never his right one...The one many poeple would find logic to hide. But he didn't for some reasons. He actually showed with maybe pride some would believe. He would only spit at the feet of these poeple. He hated those brands more than everything...well, maybe not everything.

His head turned from the right to the left slowly, examining almost every branches that was in his sight. He didn't do it for eventual threats to him...He actually didn't give a care of ennemies. They were like flies, he only clapped his hands together and they flew away...or get stuck between the palms, crushed. He scanned the woods only for the sight. The leaves were all painted in fiery colors, making the forest look like some calm and cold fire. It was relaxing a bit.

He only accelerated his head movement when he heard a small crack nearby, a bit too nearby to his taste. The sound was light, but still very near. He stopped all movements, except his eyes that continued to move from a side to the other. The small sound became nearer and nearer. It was...a pace, he was sure of it. But of what? If was too light to be a man or woman's one. Maybe a child? No, the sound was way too light and too near to be even a child pace. The small trot sound then ceased, above his head on the branch above him.

The man slowly rose his head, keeping a hand on the hilt of his second blade on the left. When he saw what was looking at him, he couldn't help but chuckle and feel stupid a bit. A small grey squirrel was sitting on the branch above him, looking at him with its little curious eyes. It was holding a nut in its paws, its nose sniffing the air nervously.

The man tilted his head to the left a little bit, but the squirrel stood still, staring at the human with its coal eyes. Both looked at each others for some minutes that semt like hours. On one hand, a curious animal staring at a stranger, on the other, the stranger looking at what he thought was a threat, but was in fact only a small furry animal.

The stare was broke when the squirrel suddenly rose its head to look beyond the trees, sniffing the air a bit more nervously. Our man rose an eyebrow but stood still. He couldn't see or hear what made the little guy be nervous...he got suspicious though when he saw the squirrel drop its nut and run away quickly from branch to branch. The human looked it run away, then looked back to where the animal looked earlier.

He closed his eyes slightly, but couldn't see anything. The trunks formed some kind of natural wall to his eyes. Getting suspicious, he jumped from the branch he was on and landed on the ground like a cat, making some leaves fly away by the air he deplaced. He looked around him once again, but again he couldn't see more than leaves and trunks. Raising an eyebrow, he slowly leant to the ground and posed his ear against the track of dirt. He closed his eyes halfly, listening to the sounds around, and the ones being resounded by the earth.

He tilted his head back quickly soon after. He clenched his teeth, hissing between them:  
"Crap..."

Regular pounds were heard on the soil. And they were getting clearer and clearer rather quickly. He rose his head again when he heard faint crunches in front of him, and neighs. Soon after, the sound of galloping was heard. And if he judged by how loud they were, even from distance, it wasn't light cavalry. They would be wearing plated armor, heavy and thick. Heavy and thick armor, added to steeds...That wasn't a good sign generally for him.

He quickly looked around him, seeking a good place to hide. The sounds of horses was getting more near, maybe 200 meters or less. He thought for a second to climb again in his tree, but he quickly rejected the idea. There wasn't enough leaves in it to hide him. The sound was at now maybe a 100 meters away, and he could hear yells being called. 

He snarled and quickly dove between two trunks to his left, leaning against the trunk of the larger of the two trees. He kept a hand on the hilt of his thin blade. Soon enough, he heard behind him many steps and stomps on the dead leaves. If he counted well...there was maybe at least 20 of them...but he wasn't sure, since the number of legs was quite high. The horses neighed loudly, the cavaliers yelling to them to gallop faster. He couldn't see them, but the clinks of metal and yells letted him guess they weren't thin and weak folks.  
He then heard a long noise, like a cavalier making his horse stop in the dead leaves. The voice he heard though, wasn't the one of a man, that he was sure of it. The woman yelled to the other cavaliers, wich were still near enough to hear her:  
"Go ahead! I'll stay here to rest a little. I'll be fine, continue to Ostia without me!"

_"Ha great...JUST, great...That lass stays here to rest, and plus I am near Ostia...This is JUST my day..." _the man thought to himself. He then remained silent, physically and mentally. He listened to the sound of horses getting away, and to the sound of feet dropping on the ground. He heard the woman whisper something to her mount, wich answered...by a growl? He then heard a large air movement, as if something took off in the air. The shadows that appeared on the ground near him were...large to say the least.

The beast had wings for sure, since when he looked up, he saw a dark figure fly away in the sky. It wasn't a pegasi, that he was sure. But it was...white still. Almost shining silver. He was took back to the thing happening behind him when he heard the woman talk to herself.

"Well...at least now I can rest a bit...those fools are capable to go on by themselves. I do not see why I should ALWAYS be with them...Sheesh..."

_"So on top of that...she is a captain of some sort? ...JUST, great damn it..."_¸

He then heard steps and crunches going a bit away, to what he thought, if he remembered and listened well, to the tree he was standing in a bit earlier. He then heard some pieces of metal being dropped to the ground and a small thud. She removed her armor maybe? If it was the case, he would have a chance to slip away without many troubles...If she was to take a small nap of course. He then heard small crunches, and then nothing. Nothing except a regular breathing, and the wind still brushing the ground.

He stood still for what seemed forever...even if it was maybe only 2 minutes. Not bearing to stay not moving anymore, he slowly bringed his head to look at who was there, then quickly returned to where he was. The person against the tree was a woman. She had, by what he saw, long shoulder lenghted blue hair. She was still wearing her chest plate, but her shoulder ones were resting on the ground. Her armor color was dark, black he believed, and of the style of wyvern riders. She had a spear near her, but the point was planted in the ground.

Next to her though, were resting two javelins. But she was sitting against the tree, looking up to the leaves. It would leave him a chance to slip away unseen. And if she ever saw him, he would be too far away in no time for her to get up, aim and launch a javelin at him. He took some seconds to choose a way to escape. The way they came? Or the way they go?

He chose the way they go, since it wouldn't be common for them to come back on their steps after their captain saying them to continue their road. Our man then released the grip around the coal hilt of his blade and slowly tried to move away behind the trunks. He bringed a hand to his hood and slid it on his head. So far, the woman didn't notice him. She was still staring idly at the leaves above her. The man grinned and kept going silently...untill he stepped on a dead branch, letting a loud crack resound in the track. He quickly rose his head, only to see the woman startle and look at him. The woman, seeing that man in cloak immediatly thought he was spying on her and her units. Him, didn't care about what she may think and dashed away quickly.

As he thought, she wasn't able to pursue him, he didn't even heard her pursue him. What he heard was worse and made him snarl. She blowed in a horn, letting a loud echo resound in kilometers it seemed. He cursed to himself and accelerated the pace, untill he heard a loud whistle in the air and a roar. He took a risk to look behind him. He only saw a green globe and then he got tackled hardly. He rolled on the ground, letting go a yell of pain.

When he stopped to roll away, he tried to get up but an enormous clawed paw dropped on his chest. He tried to recatch his breath, and then looked up. Standing next to him was a huge wyvern, white in color. Its eyes were of a dark and deep green. The beast snarled at him, keeping him on the ground.

The lady then appeared soon after, running to the beast and the man. When she saw the scenery, she grinned to herself and walked to them.  
"Well well well ...what have we caught here?"

Our man frowned and sighed.  
"It's definatly not my day today...definatly."


End file.
